Sunday, August 24, 2014

Wine is
about sharing. Sure – we all know that phrase. In wine it’s second nature to
enhance the experience by sharing. Today’s psychologist and coaches speaks
about how important it is that other people are witnesses to our life. We live
stronger when we give something to other people and they act as a catalyst for
our sensorial systems. Wine is no different. The joy of being with likewise
passionate people is revitalizing. I live for this – it’s part of my wine
loving DNA.

I couldn’t
live without “sharing”. However the daily practicalities are of course
producing some logic obstacles. We are (well I am) constantly frightful busy
and always short of time. So I do actually drink a lot of wine on my own…well
almost…technically its most of the times with my wife, but it’s the moments
were I completely alone and decide to open a bottle a wine, I want to speak
about. I also want to speak about why, especially big tasting events, is not
always heaven to me.

Let’s go
back to the month of May this year….

My wine
mates and I (plus 3 other friends) were at one of my favourite restaurants in
Copenhagen. Own wine – Chef table –Rock 'n' Roll. It couldn’t go wrong.
But it did. I didn’t have a good time and not only did I have alcoholic
hangovers the next day – I also felt like a melancholy zombie. When my brain
started to function again, I started to put together my state of mind puzzle.
Why did I feel so miserable? What went wrong?

There were three
reasons.

Firstly – I
often build expectations to an event like this. I am confident it releases some
traces of dopamine and increases my adrenalin. That’s why you often hear the
remark of people who look forward to events like this, as a child looks forward
to Christmas Eve. Good or bad tasting…well often the day after feels hollow and
slightly melancholic.

Secondly is
a “demon” I have seen before, which relates a little to the first one. The
demon is a kind of seven deadly sins – well at least three of them: Lust, Gluttony
and Greed. Sadly there is a tendency, that lack of moderation can kill the
intimacy for me. Erotic turns into porn. There are too many impressions to
digest at a +20 bottle wine tasting with +20 courses of food and +10 people to
talk to. You have to prioritize and somehow I have never succeeded to put
together the perfect plan. Something has always suffered and killed the overall
impression.

Third is a
new “troll”. The troll is about different opinions. Despite I think you can
learn a lot from tasting with other people and understanding what makes them
tick, I am not always in the mood of constantly hearing their and my opinion on
wine. Especially if it comes to just focussing on the most significant
diversity of each other’s taste. Sure such a debate is interesting, but it
requires time to obtain the important nuances. You don’t have that time at such
events, where you have to focus on so many things. Sometimes I just want to “be
there”. Catching up with friends, I might not have seen for a long time. The
wine can even be secondary. It’s simply just about confirming your friendship.
So it annoys me, when I sometimes feel in a situation, where I am forced to
express my own opinion. At this above-mentioned tasting event there were such a
situation. One of the attendees, whom I don’t know well, expressed his opinion
about natural wine. He told me about a purchase of a mixed 12-bottle case (all
natural wine), from an importer I know well. Now I don’t own or have a passion
for these wines he bought, but I have tasted them before. He explained that
half of them were good, 3 of them were so so and the last 3 were undrinkable. Then
waited for me to say something, especially concerning the 3 undrinkable ones.
It was like he had invited me to take part of a discussion, as he must have
thought of me as an ambassador of both natural wine and the guy who imports
them. So what do you say to that? I didn’t say anything. I didn’t care really.
Leave me alone, dude.

Drinking wine alone.

I love
drinking alone. It’s peaceful and aesthetic. When I am alone with wine I can
crawl into my own little cave. On one hand I pay attention on all the details
of the wine and the ambience around me. Paying attention makes you see nuances,
which is muted if you don’t pay attention. On the other hand, I also like to be absorbed in a kind of no
man’s land, where I don’t pay attention to anything. It’s important to create
this bubble, which I often do by listen to music, watch a good movie or look in
my many photographic books. Wine and the alcohol affect is not an escape from
the challenges you have in your life. This is important to understand. Wine and
alcohol is not the solution for a stressed life. I never drink wine, when I feel
stressed. However I use eight hours a day crunching numbers and try to navigate
and beat the financial markets. I simply get nuts, if there is not a contrast
to this and have found out that wine creates a path to my other half brain and
opens a window of creativity.

So what
happens next - when the wine is in the glass and the ambience is set? We talk–
the wine and I. Oh yes. I like to talk with the wine. Wine is like a small
individual “person” and I see my role as someone trying to understand he/she/it.
The only way to understand is to listen and make conversation. Such a statement
sounds like mumbo jumbo – I know. Yet I would bet we each have our way of
“communicating” with wine. The conversations are highly interesting. They swing
from love at first sight >>> instant trouble >>> puzzled
>>> intellectual >>> meaningless >>> eccentric
>>> seductive >>>…….etc.

Sometimes
it happens that the experience and the ambience created, takes my mind to an
almost transcendental state. It’s far easier for me to let go when I am alone.
Is wine a drug? I have never taken any drugs, but I imagine there are some
similarities, when this transcendental mental state takes control. These
moments come and go and shift in their strength, but at their peak, it’s at
moments like these I feel most inspired in my life.

The silence
and the intimacy are also magical. It’s again the relationship/conversation
between you and the wine. Yes – there might be issues, which you don’t like
about the wine, but then again you have something to “talk” about. The wine is
not flawless – and so what? I am far more forgiving when I drink alone. When
you taste wine with other people, I think we have a tendency to quickly conclude
on aromatic profiles, use a lot time “nailing it” – praise those who “won” and
quickly move on to the next wine. This is a big mistake if you ask me. The best
way for me to understand a wine is after I have drunk a whole bottle of by
myself.

Don’t ever
give up drinking wine with friends, your loved ones and with other people – but
don’t forget to drink wine alone either.